While on our way through West Yellowstone, we stopped and had a delicious breakfast at Ernie’s Deli and Bakery, owned and operated by a Bible College friend of my wife. Just down the street, something caught my eye, so we moved in closer to investigate…
Obviously a high winter vehicle, I had to go to the Yellowstone Guided Tours website listed on the door to track (hah!) down exactly what I was looking at here: a 1956 Bombardier Snowbus.
There’s something about the rugged simplicity of a vehicle like this with which I really resonate. You’ll notice there are nods here and there to modernity, but the basic “bus” is still all about function.
I was expecting to see a Volkswagen engine back here, but this is obviously a modern powerplant. From some quick searching, it appears this originally may have had a Chrysler industrial straight six engine.
As best I can tell, this is an R Series 1 model. Much more on the history of these unique, purpose-built vehicles can be found here.
that’s a crazy vehicle. i can;t imagine how those skinny wheels are capable of turning that thing. great find.
I suspect the tires are skinny for a good reason. With decent traction you might get some steering effect, but in deep snow, think “front mounted dual rudders”.
Modern tractors use 4WD and aggressive treads to steer in the snow and the muck, but this would be another way to get the job done, especially with the weight in back.
There’s a good possiblity that it has some way to vary the speed of the tracks from side to side to assist in turning.
It looks a bit like a mutated Citroen. It has to be a fun ride in the snow!
The engine shot was bugging me.
According to the Feds that Rig has been repowered by a 2002 5.3L V8.
Yeah, That HAS to be fun.
Car and Driver tested one of these some years ago that had been engine swapped to a Chrysler 318/5.2 V8.
There are still lots of these running on Northern Manitoba. Most run skis on the front. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9jPUshaxrkw
Reminds me of the snowcat that Scatman Crothers drove in The Shining,
Heeeer’s Johnny!
The Snowcat in the movie would have been a DMC/Thikol/LMC product if new at the time of filming. I like to think it’s a DMC product.
I guess ‘snowcat’ is a generic term that applies to any of these tracked, enclosed vehicles designed to operate in heavy snow. Some of them don’t have front tires but skis and, evidently, are the forerunners of today’s snowmobiles.
So, if you need something like this today, what’ll you get? Snowmobiles are common today, but what’s the true successor of this thing?
Doesn’t look like there are a lot of them, but an outfit named Tucker (the original manufacturer of ‘Sno-Cat’) is the biggest:
Heck, most of us Canuckistanis use these things as our daily drivers, especially during the August blizzards that plague Canuckistan.
“There’s something about the rugged simplicity of a vehicle like this with which I really resonate. ‘
When did Bombardier Recreational Products lose the clue? Try troubleshooting a modern Spyder or Outlander. You start by plugging in the laptop. It gets difficult from there. Even the ignition key has to be programmed.
Full documentation about Bombardier Auto-neige here :http://www.museebombardier.com/en/content/jab/biographie1939_1945.htm